Italian police have raided Barclays' Milan office as part of an investigation
into the alleged rigging of Euribor.

Italian investigators have seized documents from the Milan offices of Barclays as the bank was raided in connection with allegations it was involved in rigging Euribor borrowing rates.

Police took away “numerous documents, computer information and emails” from the bank’s office, according to a statement from the authorities, who are investigating whether Barclays manipulated Euribor “just as it did with Libor”.

The Italian police investigation follows complaints by consumer groups, which have claimed that more than 2m families in the country could have been affected by the rigging of Euribor, amid estimates that the scandal could have cost about €1,200 (£934) per household.

Barclays declined to comment.

The investigation increases the pressure on Barclays after the Serious Fraud Office confirmed on Monday that it had found grounds to pursue criminal prosecutions against bankers involved in Libor manipulation.

The SFO did not identify which banks were under investigation, but said it was looking at “a number of financial institutions”.

Last month, Barclays became the first bank to settle with the authorities, paying fines totalling £290m.

Deutsche Bank yesterday confirmed that some staff had been involved in Libor rigging, after the release of a staff memo from Paul Achleitner, the head of the German lender’s supervisory board.

Mr Achleitner told employees that an internal investigation had found that “a limited number of employees, acting on their own initiative, engaged in conduct that falls short of the bank’s standards”. He added that “action” had been taken.

But Deutsche Bank said none of its senior management had so far been implicated in the scandal.

“As per the current status of investigations, we can say that no current or former member of the management board had any inappropriate involvement” in the affair, Mr Achleitner wrote.